<<< Chicken Paprikash; learn and learn again

>>> Cranberry Walnut Clafoutis; dealing with the obtuse

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples; yet another wee rant

by
Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples

If I was trendy I would call this a ‘sheet pan dinner’.

I’m not trendy and I don’t have sheet pans.

For some reason, maybe because ovens here are small, sheet pans are not popular, One could say they are almost non-existent.

The cookie sheets I have were purchased at Williams-Sonoma 25 years ago.

Quality lasts. But they are flat, no edges, so only good for baked stuff.

I’ve never seen a cookie sheet here, either…. Maybe because the French don’t really make cookies.

I digress.

This is an easy dinner, made in a roasting pan.

Click here to Pin Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Print

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Pork with Apples
Print Recipe

Pork and apples naturally compliment each other: the sweet-tart flavor of the apple brings out the sweetness of the pork. With potatoes and carrots this is a simple meal needing little attention.

  • Author: Katie Zeller
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x
  • Category: Pork

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pork tenderloin, 12oz (360gr)
  • 2 medium potatoes, cut into wedges, 1/2 X 2″ (1.25 X 5cm).
  • 2 – 3 medium carrots,  cut into sticks, 1/2 X 2″ (1.25 X 5cm).
  • 1 apple – Golden Delicious or Granny Smith
  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tbs Balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tbs butter

Instructions

Trim tenderloin if needed, but leave whole.

In medium bowl mix sugar and vinegar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

  • Add oil and mix well.
  • Add potatoes, carrots and toss to coat.
  • Spread the potatoes and carrots out in a baking dish large enough to hold everything easily.
  • Coat tenderloin with remaining vinegar/sugar and place in center of pan, with vegetables around it.
  • Bake, uncovered, in 400F (200C) oven for 20 minutes.
  • After 15 minutes, cut and core apple. Slice into thick wedges.
  • Melt butter in nonstick skillet, add apples and toss to coat well.
  • Remove pork and vegetables from oven.
  • Turn the pork and stir the vegetables, turning them also.
  • Arrange the vegetables in a single layer, with pork on top of some of them, in the center of the pan.
  • Lay the apple slices around the vegetables and return it all to the oven for the last 20 minutes.
  • Remove, let the pork rest while you arrange the potatoes, carrots and apples on a small platter.
  • Slice the pork and place on top.
  • Pour over any pan juices and serve.

Notes

Remember, slightly pink is fine for pork – and keeps it juicier.

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples

It’s my turn to host our monthly book club meeting in November.

We meet in the afternoon, so we normally have coffee / tea and something sweet.

Since it’s fall I was thinking of making an apple coffee cake.

Since I have never made a coffee cake, apple or other, I started searching online.

I found a few promising recipes but, sadly, I had to abandon the one that sounded the best.

The first photo, of the whole coffee cake, looked scrumptious.

As did the second photo of a slice of the coffee cake.

Then there were photos (big photos) in the following order:

  • Utensils to make the cake.
  • Ingredients to make the cake
  • Each ingredient being measured (separate photos).
  • A photo of an apple with a knife next to it.
  • A photo of the apple partially peeled, with a hand on the knife.
  • A photo of the peeled apple, with the peeling artfully arranged next to it.
  • A photo of the apple cut into quarters.
  • A photo of the apple with 1 quarter having had the core sliced out.
  • A photo of the apple……. and on and on and on and on.

You see where I’m going with this, don’t you?

But the recipe looked really good so I kept scrolling.

When I got to the the photo of the author’s toddler eating a piece of coffee cake I was ready to close the page.

When I got to the 2nd photo of the toddler eating the cake I did close the page.

Yes, the kid was cute. Yes the cake looked delicious, but I really, really just wanted the d*mn recipe!

How do you people have the patience to get through all of those inane, insipid photos just to find a list of ingredients?

I think my next search for an apple coffee cake will be in my collection of church cook books from the ’70’s. Some of those recipes are just a list of ingredients as the assumption was that everyone knew how to make a cake.

And how to peel an apple.

Hmmmm….. I may have complained about this in the past. Apparently, neither the blogs nor my appreciation of them have changed.

15 thoughts on “Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples; yet another wee rant”

  1. Yes, I agree…I really just want the recipe. Of course we both know the basics on how to cook and bake so all those photos must be for those who don’t or for international use so you don’t have to read?

  2. I use Allrecipies.com. I get a photo of the dish/cake/what-have-you, and the instructions. I hate, hate, hate having to scroll through a life story to get to the recipe, especially since I’ve been cooking long before most of these women were even a thought! Rarely will I watch a video of something I’ve not made before and I can’t think of an example right now of that even, but if I need to, it’s watching someone who is an actual chef.

    This dish looks excellent! I love pork. You do know that you could buy a half sheet pan or quarter sheet pan that would fit in a tiny oven… 😉

    • have never watched a cooking video – and if I ever needed to it would also be a professional. I’ve watched the occasional knitting video if I can’t figure out the instructions (I’m not an experienced knitter) and usually they are 10 minute videos with 10 seconds of actual information…. The rest is fill. Hate that, too. lol Remember I live in France….. Half sheet pan? Right lol

    • I have never watched a cooking video – and if I ever needed to it would also be a professional. I’ve watched the occasional knitting video if I can’t figure out the instructions (I’m not an experienced knitter) and usually they are 10 minute videos with 10 seconds of actual information…. The rest is fill. Hate that, too. lol Remember I live in France….. Half sheet pan? Right lol

  3. The pork tenderloin looks delicious. I have been adding celeriac to the veg mix I do with pork roasts since moving to France. It is one of the vegetables we have discovered since being here.
    I second your comments re photos with recipes. I don’t have the patience to scroll through them to get the information I want. The last cake I made was a Romanian Apple Cake using apples and walnuts from our trees but I reduced the sugar after the first attempt. I have never thought of putting apple and coffee together.

    • We no longer get walnuts from our trees. They have been infected with black fly, and, after looking into the treatment, I decided I could buy way more walnuts than we eat / use for the cost of treating our trees.
      I also like celeriac, and don’t buy it as often as I should, So much easier to find than decent stalks of celery lol
      Romanian Apple Cake – must google… and ask my Romanian friend.

  4. Funny about the sheet pans. As I was reading this, I was wondering what the French use for macarons.

    Pinterest has a lot of apple cake recipes. Here’s one of them . . . http://joansfoodwanderings.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like.html#more

    and I’ve made this apple galette . . . http://www.unusuallylovely.com/home/recipe-apple-galette?utm_source=Buns+In+My+Oven&utm_campaign=1285bcf998-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4f89f95780-1285bcf998-47868337

    Hope this helps.

    • There are a lot of small, specialty baking things available, and silicone pads…. but, as I said, most are small, because ovens are small.
      I’ve made a similar apple galette, but using puff pastry. Thanks for the links, but, as with most other ones I’ve seen, they are small – 8″ which would be perfect for the two of us (with leftovers) are not big enough for my book club. I think I have found one that I can modify to be big enough. We shall see.lol

  6. Hi! I’ve been reading some blogs again, mainly for cooking inspiration, and put yours on a NEW list. I used this recipe for Sunday lunch. Of course I changed innumerable things because that’s the way I cook — I hacked the filet mignon in 100g pièces, didn’t include potatoes, and simmered it all on the stovetop. Oh yes, for liquid I added a little beer. It was delicious! Hope you are well!

    • I have always considered recipes inspiration, not mandates…. Beer. I like that. Kind of Alsatian….
      Have you started blogging again? There are still a few of us left from the early days but more and more are drifting away. Thanks for stopping by again. BTW, I loved your photos of the snow. And I loved that we didn’t get it lol

  7. Ha! Yes it is that time of year. Apples.

    I was just looking in the “More with Less Cookbook by Menonite grandmother Doris Longacre. It’s a goldmine and her recipes are terse. Her recipe for Roman Apple Cake (serves 12-16 – big families those Menonites) apart from the list of ingredients contains the instructions: “Preheat oven to 350F, Combine in mixing bowl Beat in Add Mix well. Pour into greased and floured pan. Cover with topping: Combine together Bake 35-40 mins.

    Really – what more does anyone need?

    • It actually reminded one to preheat the oven?
      I was looking through my mother’s recipes for one for my niece the other day. The were all beautifully written in script (my mother prided herself on her handwriting) but were equally terse…. Some lacked instructions completely or were simply reminders. Her recipe for rhubarb wine stated to put the ingredients in a large barrel and ferment until ready.
      Well, of course! What else would you do?
      I have an Amish cookbook that is much the same.

Comments are closed.